Why I believe my baptism was not valid. (welcome comments)

by thebeliever 21 Replies latest jw experiences

• 

  thebeliever

  Thanks for replying steve, i really appreciate it. I no longer want to be in the jw's but i miss my brother and wish to open his eyes.
• 

  Steve Lowry

  Hi Believer.

  Well, then show your brother how happy you are. I know (as well as you), that JW's are trained to think that only JW's are genuinely happy. Another Watchtower lie. Let him see all your success and how good life can be, even though you're not a JW anymore. Of course this assumes he still has anything to do with you. One thing I would advise against is 'witnessing' to him. Let someone else maybe do that. I have known many folks in your situation who took their JW loved ones to task about their JW beliefs only to have it backfire on them. Just love him and maybe one day he'll see the light and what a blessing he has in his sister!

  Steve
• 

  larrynbabies

  My fiancee Megan was babtized when she was twelve it was the same year she first tried to commit suicide. She was later df'd when she was sixteen and the lasting effects and trauma she went through with being shunned by her friends and family played a huge part in her eventually commiting suicide last feb 24th. She left me with twin baby boys who were ten months old at the time.

  I think it should be criminal for the org to subject minors to so much abuse and neglect due to a judgement made at such an early age. Just like most of the things they believe in and practice are so friggin hypocritical. I can only hope at some point they will eventualy step so far over the line that this allow will anyone who has been truley harmed by these people to seek legal recourse and we can then hit them where it hurt the most. Thier bank account.

  LarrynBabies
• 

  Desilusionnee

  I know this thread is really old, but latelly, I was thinking about cancelling my baptism. I was 13 when I got baptised...way too young.

  If an invalidation was possible, they would not be able to disfellowship me/us.... nice dream
• 

  sd-7

  Well, it's clear that the baptism was done without truly, fully understanding what it would mean, for those of us who were fairly young. I was not quite 13 when I got baptized. I knew it was expected of me, and that I was smart enough to know or learn the answers to the baptism questions, and that I had no other plans in mind for my life, so I did it. It was what I wanted, and I'd still be in if I still believed it was the true religion.

  But really, can a JW honestly say he or she was baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? Not in my opinion. More like Father, Son and Organization. Think about it. They actually have to go into detail in WT articles about what it means to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and holy spirit--as if it isn't self-explanatory, as if it has to be qualified by their specific definition in order to count. That said, the baptism wasn't really a Christian baptism save in appearance only. So it's kind of invalid by definition anyway, if you ask me. But if you still feel the Jesus vibe, and held onto that belief, and always believed it was about faith in Jesus, then I guess it could count, even if it was done under crap circumstances.

  --sd-7
• 

  sd-7

  Also, that's a horrible story. Putting kids that age through that sort of trial must've been traumatizing. I guess I was lucky not to have a mom who was a stool pigeon or I'd have been in the same boat for that suicide attempt back in the day. I reckon my son will not be quite so lucky.

  --sd-7
• 

  Phizzy

  I thoroughly agree that for the reasons mentioned above the baptisms of many were invalid.

  Just a word of caution, even if you prove the invalidity of your baptism beyond doubt to the WT, they will still be able to claim that you accepted their rules of membership, by representing them Dto D, by volunteering at a Convention, etc etc and so, they claim they can still DF you !!!!

  My own baptism under the early 1960's vows I do not consider invalid, I never swore allegince to any organization or to its teachings and beliefs.

  here are the questions/vows that applied to me :

  (1963 ) "The first question is: Have you recognized yourself before Jehovah God as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him, the Father, through his Son Jesus Christ?

  The second question is: On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation, have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Jesus Christ and through the Bible under the enlightening power of the holy spirit? "

  I think this illustrates how far the religion I was born in to has moved away from following Christ and the Bible when you compare the modern questions/vows.
• 

  Desilusionnee

  Do you remember those speeches where they told us thas unbaptized proclaimers would'nt survive the big H? How should a child or a teenager "logically" react while listening to those speeches?

  Does someone remember when they changed the questions?

  Desi
• 

  sd-7

  Does someone remember when they changed the questions?

  1985, I believe--at least 'In Search of Christian Freedom' p. 118 shows it as occurring in the June 1, 1985 WT. I know I've confirmed this in my own research, but didn't remember the exact date of the change, save that it was in the '80s. Wow, this was the year before my mom got baptized. I guess she probably never knew there was a different set of questions before then. Kinda sad, as I think of it.

  --sd-7
• 

  Desilusionnee

  Thank you Sd-7!